Please Stop The Pope

Episode 33

Monster Wave

What is divine power?

It is literally the sacred power of gods and the power that creates miracles.

At first glance, it may seem like a blessing bestowed by gods (in my case, I directly received it from Limen), but according to Limen’s explanation, divine power originates from believers, not from gods.

-To be precise, think of it as a power that originates from life. Life is so miraculous and noble that it has countless possibilities. If mana touches upon the possibility of the of life, divine power touches upon the possibility of the of life.

When I first heard that from Limen, I didn’t understand it well, but as time passed, I was eventually able to realize what it meant.

At one point, I saw a young man arrive at the Vatican, guided by the priests.

A 24-year-old young man from a northern barbarian tribe.

A young man who had never been baptized by priests and had never received religious education since childhood.

The young man knew nothing about what kind of god Limen was, what values Limen pursued, or what the doctrines of the church were.

However, the young man possessed pure divine power to the extent that even I exclaimed in admiration.

When the young man was a boy, he was able to survive thanks to the sacrifice of a priest from the Limen Church.

And from the moment the young man saw a foreigner, who had no connection to the tribe, praying to Limen and willingly sacrificing himself, he embraced in his heart a god named Limen, whom he only knew the name of.

Even while wandering the north with the surviving tribesmen, the young man simply prayed to that god named Limen for the safety and happiness of the tribe.

Not even knowing that it was called prayer.

While wandering the north with the tribesmen like that, the young man was discovered by another priest of the Limen Church and arrived at the Vatican.

That was also the story of ‘Leo Lumen’, who was called the saint of the north.

Of course, even Leo, who was like that, is now diligently translating the Bible in his room.

“Leo, that child was also a very special case. He was a child who was born with a very strong possibility of divine power.”

“I’ll say it again, addressing Leo as a ‘child’ is too much for me.”

“Shi Yu. Are you jealous right now?”

“No way.”

I sighed while looking at Limen, who was lightly sitting on my desk.

This was also Limen’s temple, and thanks to the rapid increase in Limen’s believers overnight, she was able to manifest herself once again.

The reason I urgently requested a conversation with her was naturally because of the huge incident that occurred last night.

The incident where divine power was unlocked for Earth’s players.

The whole world was noisy because of it right now. From existing religions, including Christianity and Islam, to strange new religious groups I’ve never heard of before.

There were players emerging from various places claiming to have awakened divine power. Of course, I don’t know if they have really awakened divine power.

Limen gently placed her hand on my head and said,

“You at least knew that the shamans of the northern tribes used divine power, right?”

“That’s why it was hard to understand.”

“It means that the object of faith is not important, but the faith in that object is important. Shi Yu, you may not know, but there were quite a few godheads that vanished because they couldn’t gain faith.”

“What the hell is a godhead?”

“You’re already seeing it with your own two eyes!”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“I can’t tell you about the origin of godheads.”

When Limen says that, it means she really can’t answer.

It can’t be helped, but we’ll have to move on to the next topic.

I sighed, nodded, then looked at Limen again and asked,

“Then what is the reason there was no divine power on Earth until now?”

“It’s the same reason why mana was not allowed for humans on Earth until now. The dimension was restricting some of the possibilities that life possesses.”

“Then shouldn’t it have appeared together when mana appeared 5 years ago?”

At my question, Limen frowned her brows beautifully with a sullen expression and answered,

“If I had known that, wouldn’t I have told Shi Yu in advance? I’m sorry for being a powerless god on Earth.”

“…No, if you say that, what do I become?”

“But I can predict to some extent. Either it was meant to be like this from the beginning, or…”

“Or?”

“It’s because of me and Shi Yu.”

I sighed heavily once again at Limen’s words and said,

“Causality again?”

“I want to give everything to Shi Yu without reserve, but… causality that governs dimensions can’t help but dislike such things.”

I expected that word to come up again, but I couldn’t help but feel annoyed when I directly heard about that possibility.

But Limen lightly hugged me and said,

“But now I can at least do this much.”

[Your goddess bestows a blessing upon you.]

[For 90 days, the level of all traits possessed by the church increases by 1 level.]

“Do you have to hug me like this while giving a blessing?”

“I like this. Do you dislike it, Shi Yu?”

Instead of answering Limen’s question, I just stayed still.

After hugging me for quite a while like that, Limen soon got off the desk and smiled.

Then she looked at me and playfully asked,

“Now, what does our Pope plan to do?”

“What else? I have to diligently evangelize to players as well. If I stay still, all the talented people will be taken away. There’s already a manpower shortage.”

Originally, I was thinking of attracting talents from various fields through things like divine power and baptism, but if I do that now, it will be too late.

According to news I heard through the Ministry of Ability Management and Min-soo, major guilds are already preparing ways to preoccupy players with potential in divine power.

They shouldn’t have information about divine power, but if I let my guard down, they might take them all.

“Right.”

There was something I wanted to ask Limen anyway, so I should resolve it now.

“Is it possible to additionally recruit manpower from Eden?”

“Hmm, not yet.”

“Then there’s no choice. I’ll just overwork Leo some more.”

“…Shi Yu?”

“It’s okay. People don’t die from sleeping a bit less.”

The opportunity for effective business, no, missionary work, was actually not far away.

The emergence of divine power was only a part of the events that occurred overnight.

While the whole world was perplexed by divine power, a new form of energy, abnormal phenomena began to occur simultaneously in various parts of the world.

And Korea was also not free from those abnormal phenomena.

9 abnormal phenomena were reported nationwide.

Even among them, there were 3 abnormal phenomena that could seriously damage the country if left unattended.

Naturally, as the situation reached that point, an emergency was declared throughout South Korea.

The fact that an awakener mobilization order, which rarely occurs once a year, was issued was enough to realize the severity of the current situation.

Of course, I was also included in the government’s mobilization targets.

“Are those pig bastards infected with foot-and-mouth disease or something? It’s really funny that they suddenly come down. Pope Kim Shi Yu. No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense. It’s quite a coincidence that the guys who were stuck up there until now come down at this time of all times.”

“Isn’t it unsightly for Representative Choi, who is also a major guild leader, to be attached to them instead of us?”

“Hoho. It’s a matter of pride to be attached to those thug bastards. Didn’t I tell you before? Our guild is not affiliated with the National Guild Alliance.”

“I see.”

I sighed while looking at Choi Seo-jin, the representative of the Demon Guild, who was excitedly talking next to me.

This place was the top-floor conference room of the Ministry of Ability Management that I had visited once before.

In the conference room, a total of 11 people, including myself, were seated.

Representative Choi of the Demon Guild was also one of those 11 people.

Despite the weather getting colder, Representative Choi was wearing a Hawaiian short-sleeved t-shirt, and he said to me while flexing his dynamic muscles,

“Shall we have a cup of coffee together after the meeting? I have something to ask you separately, and we might as well.”

“Something to ask separately?”

“I have many personal questions about divine power.”

After a while, Representative Choi brought his mouth close to my ear and quietly whispered,

“The power you used to subdue me last time was also divine power, right? The power you showed at the Guro-gu Gate also seems to be divine power, so it seems like Pope Kim is the top instructor when it comes to divine power…”

“Representative Choi.”

“Yes.”

“Please refrain from whispering in my ear next time. If you do it one more time, I might give you another underground tour.”

“Oh my. Were you embarrassed? Unexpectedly, your taste… Haha, relax your face, Pope Kim.”

It’s the first time meeting Representative Choi since then, but people are really strange.

If someone saw us, they would think we were comrades who had gone through countless battlefields together.

“Representative Choi. Are you the only one in the conference room? Lower your voice.”

A middle-aged man with a mustache spoke to us, probably dissatisfied with our communication.

In response to that man’s remark, Representative Choi picked his ear with his little finger and replied,

“I’m trying to have a pleasant conversation with a newly made friend, do you have a problem with that? If you don’t like the temple, the monk should leave.”

“That’s your problem. You don’t have an ounce of consideration for others. That’s why you clash with other guilds over every little thing.”

“Representative Lee, have you been getting mustache treatments lately? Your mustache texture has strangely improved.”

“Tsk.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Representative Choi’s comment.

He’s definitely a crazy person.

In my case, I came here as an irregular after receiving a mobilization request from the Ministry of Ability Management, but the other 10 people are all representatives of major guilds based in Seoul.

In a situation where the balance of power has shifted significantly to the guilds, those people are the core power group. How many people can openly pick a fight with them?

It seems true that he doesn’t have a good relationship with the guilds affiliated with the National Guild Alliance.

Otherwise,

“By the way, Representative Lee, did you get circumcision surgery on your mouth? Why does everything you say sound like bullshit?”

He wouldn’t be able to say that.

“Y-You bastard!”

“I heard that the part your guild members were in charge of at the site was breached last time, and my kids had a hard time. Shouldn’t you apologize for that first? Instead of talking bullshit, focus on managing your kids properly.”

“Oh.”

He says what needs to be said, is it something like Max Coke?

I correct myself.

He doesn’t seem to be just a crazy person, but a properly crazy person.

Representative Lee was about to lash out at Representative Choi’s verbal abuse, but he couldn’t do anything.

Because just as he was about to get angry, the conference room door opened and someone entered.

“It seems our busy representatives were having a pleasant conversation. Did this old man perhaps interrupt?”

Yoo Seon-ho, the head of the Ministry of Ability Management.

At the appearance of the old man with a kind smile, Representative Lee simply frowned deeply and sat down quietly.

Representative Choi grinned at Representative Lee, then said to Minister Yoo,

“It seems your energy has improved since I last saw you, Minister.”

“The herbal medicine I’ve been taking lately seems to be quite effective. If Representative Choi wants, I’ll let you know where I got the herbal medicine after the meeting. Hoho.”

“Sounds good.”

Representative Choi also had a favorable stance toward Minister Yoo.

After quickly settling the atmosphere of the conference room that was heading toward a catastrophe, Minister Yoo sat down, still smiling kindly.

Then he lightly gestured to his secretary and said,

“Since your time is precious, let’s quickly get to the point.”

After a while, a map of South Korea appeared on the screen prepared on one side of the conference room.

The familiar Korean Peninsula.

However, there was a huge red dot located near the waist of the Korean Peninsula, and Minister Yoo said in a low voice,

“According to reports from the reconnaissance team, the number of orcs moving south is at least 100,000. Accordingly, the Monster Wave alert level has been raised from level 2 to level 1.”

…What?

100,000?